X
  • 1955
  • Not Rated
  • Brandon Films
  • 2 h 4 m
  • 1955
  • Not Rated
  • Brandon Films
  • 2 h 4 m
Sansho the Bailiff

Summary When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave traders. Under Kenji Mizoguchi’s dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema’s greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expr...

Directed By: Kenji Mizoguchi

Written By: Ogai Mori, Fuji Yahiro, Yoshikata Yoda

  • 1955
  • Not Rated
  • Brandon Films
  • 2 h 4 m
  • 1955
  • Not Rated
  • Brandon Films
  • 2 h 4 m

Sansho the Bailiff

Metascore Universal Acclaim Based on 17 Critic Reviews
must-see
96
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 10 User Ratings
7.3
My Score
Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Summary When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave traders. Under Kenji Mizoguchi’s dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema’s greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expr...

Directed By: Kenji Mizoguchi

Written By: Ogai Mori, Fuji Yahiro, Yoshikata Yoda

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 17 Critic Reviews
96
100% Positive
17 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 17 Critic Reviews
96
100% Positive
17 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
Sansho the Bailiff stands as a humanist landmark alongside something like Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, which would come out a year later.
By Josh Larsen FULL REVIEW
100
Jan 11, 2022
A masterpiece managed with exquisite patience, the film is slow-moving only in the sense that it doesn’t have to move for anybody; Mizoguchi’s hands and eyes search out every crevice along the eternal landscape, granting his characters clemency, or breaking their legs, based on the roll of an infinite-sided die.
FULL REVIEW
100
Jan 11, 2022
Moving and atmospheric, this quest tale is among the best of its kind.
By David Parkinson FULL REVIEW
100
Jan 11, 2022
Told with the stark simplicity of a fairy tale, Sansho The Bailiff demonstrates how compassion can overcome the forces of hatred and oppression, and shows how trying it is to remain decent and humane in an inhospitable world.
By Scott Tobias FULL REVIEW
90
Jan 11, 2022
Its impulses, which are profound but not transcendental, follow an esthetic program that is also a moral progression, and that emerges, with superb lucidity, only from the greatest art.
FULL REVIEW
88
Jan 11, 2022
It employs the power of tragedy to enrich.
By James Berardinelli FULL REVIEW
80
Jan 11, 2022
Legend, adventure and poetry fuse to make this engrossing, if overlong, film material.
FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 10 User Ratings
7.3
70% Positive
7 Ratings
20% Mixed
2 Ratings
10% Negative
1 Rating

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 10 User Ratings
7.3
70% Positive
7 Ratings
20% Mixed
2 Ratings
10% Negative
1 Rating

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company Daiei Studios
Release Date Jan 1, 1955
Duration 2 h 4 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
Tagline A film of unparalleled beauty by the great Japanese Master Kenji Mizoguchi
View All Details

Awards

Venice Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Cahiers du Cinéma
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Kinema Junpo Awards
• 1 Nomination

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